Ambassadors for India

Selling India to foreign visitors, through the medium of foreigners resident in India—Incredible India’s brave new leap, says ISHA MANCHANDA

Back in 2000, when the Incredible India campaign was first launched, it was the brainchild of Amitabh Kant, then joint secretary, ministry of tourism and V Sunil, creative director, Ogilvy & Mather. Over time, the campaign has moved from the initial landscape shots to spirituality, India’s spectacular economic progress and to the vibrant colours of India.

In its latest avatar, Weiden + Kennedy’s campaign, with five new print ads, features non-Indians who have chosen to live in India. Called Motherland India, the campaign has been shot by photographer Bharat Sikka.

Incredible India had first begun with images of what made India famous: The Taj Mahal, India's wildlife, the mountains, the desert. "The focus for the first few campaigns," says Sunil, "was the look of the land and the culture". In 2003-04, the focus shifted to spirituality and mysticism.

Now, many successful campaigns under their belt, the team felt the need to reinvent – to try to make it more meaningful. “While traveling anywhere, we are always looking for information from people who’ve travelled to these places already. That’s what we wanted to bring to the audience. We wanted to make the campaign more interactive and believable,” says Sunil.

“Throughout the campaign, we tried to not only represent the different dimensions of the country, but also do so innovatively. Motherland India, rolled out in 2008, isn’t just about Indian culture and terrain. It’s about people who’ve lost and found themselves here,” says Leela Nandan, currently joint secretary, ministry of tourism.

Suitably, the international tagline for the campaign is ‘Your search ends here’. Sunil says the campaign wanted to document the stories of people who are not Indian by birth but have chosen to make India their country of residence. “Not only are these people living in India, they’re also doing a lot to contribute to its culture and progress,” he adds.

The process of finding the right people to feature was time-consuming, but interesting. The team got to meet many fascinating people. It started with one person in mind and unearthed an entire community that acts as ambassadors of change.

Released almost immediately after 26/11, the campaign, however, was not in response to the attacks. “The shoots weren’t a result of the attacks. The campaign was conceptualised long before the attacks. In fact, Sunil says they reconsidered the campaign but decided to continue because it was relevant. And, considering the huge drop in inbound tourist count since 26/11, Sunil says industry response has been good. Now to see if it works with the tourists.